Review: Poor Boy

HE changed the sound of Aussie rock and now Split Enz and Crowded House star Tim Finn is taking a crack at musical theatre.

Finn co-wrote Poor Boy, which opens at the Sydney Theatre Company tonight starring Underbelly's Matthew Newton and McLeod's Daughters star Abi Tucker.

The show is about a seven-year-old boy who believes he is the reincarnation of Newton's character, who died in a car crash.

It is written by playwright Matthew Cameron and uses a combination of new and old songs by Finn.

"The songs came from places in my life that were pretty emotional times," he said.

"That's the stuff that's common to us all."

Although Split Enz have stopped touring, Finn has no plans to slow down and is working on several projects including a double CD anthology and a rock musical for the Sydney Festival called January that he co-wrote with poet Dorothy Porter, who died last year.